He also brings a precon

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54
It is possible for several
performing some duty or task.
one group, says Reid,
operational levels to be present
in
is aware of them.
so long as everyone
Cartwright and Zander identify two aspects of the
tasks are aimed.
goal formation process toward which group
goals which are brought
One is the presence of individual
The other is the conversion of goals held
to the group.
13
Each person brings to the
by members into a group goal.
own motives; sometimes they are person-centered
group his
He also brings a precon
and sometimes group-centered.
been, i.e..
ceived notion of what the group's history has
And finally, he brings his perspective of
past goals.
its social surroundings.
the relations.between the group and
how goals held
The literature contains little about
Cartwright
by members can be converted into group goals.
"fairnese
and Zander hold that most groups fail to meet
Such criterion assumes that
criterion in forming goals.
decision-making
all members have equal wei.ght in the
in whether
Four factors seem to be key elements
process.
the growp goal:
or not a group member accepts
cOnsequences
(A) the member's assessment of the
of his acceptance.
his
(B) the member's perception of the goal and
potential involvement with it.
p. 403.
13Cartwright and Zander,
op. cit. ,
58
55
(C) the members' attraction for one another.
14
(D) mutual participation in goal-setting.
Two Sides of the Coin
Work and Emotionality:
and
Reddin17
Blake and Mouton
Olmstead (1959)
,16
,15
have adopted Ca-Awright and Zander's classification of group
task function - goal achievement and group maintenance.
The
literature indicates that goal-directed behavior as well as
attention to the psy:lho-social needs of the group are task
fkinctions and therefore influence leadership behaviors.
The
problem for groups , administrators , managers, and educators
is that some groups have an imbalance between the two func-
favoring either the goal achievement or the mainten-
tions
,
ance
activities.18
Goal achievement includes behaviors such as
initiating action, keeping the members' attention on the
Group
clarifying the issues , and developing plans.
goal
,
maintenance has to do with interpersonal relations,
and stimulating self-direction.
mediating disputes
,
p. 411.
14Ibid.,
Olmstead, The Small Group (New Yorks
15Michael
p7735.
,
Random House, Inc. , 1959)
16B
lake and Mouton, op. cit.
"Reddin
op. cit.
,
18
p. 308.
Cartwright and Zander, op. cit.
59
56
Harvard
As an outgrowth of their work at the
(1964) have proposed
Business School, Zaleznik and Moment
interpersonal setting
three criteria for diagnosing the
of group works
(a) The psychological interdependence among
members required by the task,
(B) The personal involvement of the individuals
with the task,
(c) The personal risks facing group members by
together.19
virtue of their working
English psychiatrist Bion (1959) has formulated a
interpersonal
comprehensive modality for analyzing the
He views the group from three
aspect of group-life.
dependency, pairing, and fight-
possible culture-levels:
The dependency group looks for direction and
flight.
The
authority.
support from outside or from a symbol of
from
pairing group works as if the strength could come
attacking and
The fight-flight group engages in
within.
concern."
withdrawing from the object of its
and Blum
Group effectiveness, according to Shaw
(1964), should increase by increasing the members aware-
This is especially true for
ness of others in the group.
19Abraham Zaleznik and David Moment, The Dynamics
John Wiley and Sons,
of Interpersonal Behavior (New Yorkt
'Sc., 1964)
P. 137.
2
op. cit. , p. 78ff.
0Bion,
60
57
difficult tasks which require the best efforts of the
21
When group members are unaware of the feelings
members.
of others, it is likely that some unacceptable decisions
will be made.
The importance of work and emotionality as two
sides of the same coin is stressed in the research of
Portal-Foster (1966) who studied instructional-learning
He found the productivity of instructional
groups.
groups to be largely the interaction between and among
He conjectured that the pro-
individuals in the group.
ductivity of adult instructional groups could be enlarged
if the groups were comprised on the basis of emotional
22
Borman emphasized
profiles of prospective participants.
that task-oriented groups also have a social dimension.
He and others cite the Bales model.which accounts for both
dimension."
the social-emotional responses and the task
TYPES OF TASK GROUPS
Zaleznik and Moment (1964) appear to be the only
researchers to have proposed types of work groups.
Their
21
Marvin E. Shaw and J. Michael Blum, "Effects of
the Group's Knowledge of Member Satisfaction Upon Group
1:15-16 (January, 1964).
Performance," Psychonomic Science
221
Charles Williams George Portal-Foster, "A Study
of Work and Emotionality in a Small Adult Instructional
Group," (unpublished Doctor's thesis, University of Wiscon-
sin, 1966). p. 140.
G. Borman, Discussion and Grout) Methods
23Ernest
(New York: Harper and Row, 1969), p. 138.
61
58
conceptualization is usefUl to this paper in that it helps
to differentiate between problem-solving groups and learn-
Their first category or group setting is one
ing groups.
which provides opportunity for individuals to perform tasks
An example is the factory where workers
within the group.
There is little, if any,
are each doing separate tasks.
psychological interdependence: risk is low due to the
relative absnece of emotional involvement by the workers.
The group seeks to protect itself from outsiders such as
the time-and-study engineer who may be seen as an intruder.
A second category is the group setting where infor-
mation is exchanged. This group assumes each person has
some information which others need by pooling information.
Ordinarily this group does not engage in problem-solving
Changing work-shifts at
or the production of new ideas.
a hospital where the staff passes along information to
in-coming workers is an example of the information-sharing
There is little psychological interdependence and
group.
However, the workers may become bored and
risk is low.
aggressive.
A
A third category is.the problem-solving group.
high level of tension and psychological interdependence
As the group defines the
exists among the group members.
problem and gathers data, it moves towards a concensus or
Ineffective problem-solving, accordIng to
decision.
62
59
commitment to the
Zaleznik and Moment, is due to lack of
24
of psychological interdependence.
group and to a low degree
another, and as the
As members attempt to influence one
feelings becomes
possibility for a change in attitudes and
The writers take
level of risk rises.
more apparent, the
the problems
the position that in a problem-solving group
lie outside the
toward which the primary work is addressed
25
group.
learning
The fourth group classification is the
include small
In this category the researchers
group.
therapy
discussion groups, laboratory human relations groups,
policy and planning groups.
groups, and some organization
.assunmd that change in cognition,
In learning groups it is
Bradford
attitudes and feelings is a possible outcome.
when some
explains that problems in learning groups arise
Becalise individuals
not.
are committed and others are
anxiety about difficulties and conse-
vary in degrees of
contribute to a general
quences of learning, these can
26
When the group has accepted the
climate of resistence.
learning
task of learning, it takes responsibility for the
of each member, offering emotional support as needed.
24
Zaleznik and //foment, op. cit. , p. 138ff.
p. 144.
26
Leland Bradford ,"Developing Potentialities Through
Class Groups ," Pernectives on the Group Process ,
ed.
Co.,
1964), p. 68.
Clarence G. Kemp (Boston: Houghton Mifflin
60
The policy and planning group in a learning setting
is different from the problem-solving group according to
1
It deals in long-range objectives
Zaleznik and Moment.
and abstract formulations while problem-solving is more
High ambiguity
related to the immediate time and problems.
of task and process characterize the planning and policy
group whereas in the problem-solving setting the task is
There is potential for learning in a
relatively clear.
planning group, but there is also the potential for failure
as well.
The similarities between problem-solving groups
and learning groups are pointed out by Zaleznick and
In each there is a prominent task--decision and/or
Moment.
Both depend upon the
individual learning is expected.
In each group the individual
sharing of information.
members stand as resources to one another with particular
skills and knowledge.
And finally, integration--the need
for consensus--must take place.
The teaching-learning process, according to
Bradford (1958), is a human transaction involving the
teacher, learner, and learning group in a set of dynamic
27
The goal of this process is change
interrelationships.
Bradford, "The Teaching-Learning Trans-
27Leland
action," The Planning. of Chanze. ed. Warren Bennis, et al.
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961), p. 493.
(New York:
64
61
and growth in the individual and his behavior.
Education
is seen as being much broader than mere cognitionl it
includes feelings and attitudes.
Necessary to this
projected outcome is the ability of the learner to work
effectively with others in the group situation.
The
teacher's role is that of guiding the process of learning
He must be skilled in human relations and
and change.
the technologies of diagnosis and analysis of the whole
The group provides the climate,
learning environment.
the culture, in which learning may occur or not.
In
addition Bradford argues for sound pedagogical methods
of presenting knowledge and for developing ways of
2
evaluating learning experiences.
8
LEADER MANAGEMENT OF TASK VARIABLES
The problem of managineexcess emotional energy
It is one of channeling
concerns Zaleznik and Moment.
surplus emotions into a variety of activities as well as
29
However,
into the resolution of personal problems.
understanding the group emotional process does not mean
one can control or change it.
It does mean that a
sophisticated member of the'group can help the group move
effectively toward problem-solving.
The appointed leader
502.
28Ibid.
p.
153.
29Zaleznik
and Moment., op. cit.
, p.
62
may or may not do this.
The management of group affect
means that the members must take account of norms which
inhibit group work or enhance it.
Sometimes members have
negative feelings about expressing feelings in public.
Also, those who facilitate the expression of negative
feelings must have the ability to deal with their impact
and emotional meaning.
Again the importance of leadership to the group
task is underlined by Hemphill who states:
"A leader's most important function in
the dynamics of group behavior may well be
that of maintaining group membership as a
satisfying experience for the members of
the group and facilitating their acting as
a unity rather than as separate inaviduals."
What the leader does, he says, is largely dependent upon
the characteristics of the situation in which he functions.
The teacher's task in the learning situation,
according to Koff (1967) is to make sense out of the
group
situation.31
His role is that of a diagnostician
and consultant for a social system in which he is also a
participant.
He must know when to intervene, as well as
when not to intervene.
30
Hemphill, op. cit., p. 100.
31
Robert H. Koff, "Dynamics of Task and Process:
the Classroom as. Social Organism," (unpublished research
memorandum no. 15, Stanford University, November, 1967).
F6
VA.
63
They
There are problems with group management,
arise from the group's difficulty in knowing precisely
where it is in relation to a goal, and what steps are to
This difficulty comes about
it.32
be taken to reach
because group goals are sometimes decided by a sub-part
of the group rather than by consensus.
Reeves (1970) sees difficulties ahead for those
who attempt to change already established group goals.
Such changes are often attempted by one member of the
Changes in goals often
group rather than by consensus.
imply changes in behavior which in turn can create fear
There can be no change in goals or
within the group.
changes.33
task without the whole group accepting such
SUMMARY
The relational aspects of the small group
phenomenon are brought out in the literature cited in
Clearly leadership behaviors cannot be
this chapter.
separated from the primary focus around which the group
This focus is the group task.
is formed.
We distinguished between goals as the more global
direct:I.on-set of the group and the task as being whatever
32
Cartwright and Zander, op. cit., p. 402.
T. Reeves, The Dynamics of Group Behavior
33Elton
(American Management AssociaTion. 1970), p.-1677
67